As a conventional technology associated with an apparatus for aligning and poisoning a plurality of pieces of food dough, each of which has a triangular shape for croissant dough, there is an apparatus for laying out and rotating pieces of croissant dough, which is disclosed in Patent Document 1.
In the apparatus for laying out and rotating pieces of croissant dough (“a laying-out and rotating apparatus”) that is disclosed in Patent Document 1, an upstream conveyor, which conveys pieces of food dough so that a specific side of each of the pieces of food dough having a triangular shape becomes parallel to the moving direction of the conveyor, and a downstream conveyor, the speed of which is faster than that of the upstream conveyor, are arranged in series.
Above the connecting position of the upstream conveyor and the downstream conveyor, an apparatus for separating rows of the pieces of food dough in the moving direction of the conveyors (“a separating apparatus”) by pins is disposed. Further, above the downstream conveyor, an apparatus for laying out the pieces of food dough in the perpendicular direction to the moving direction of the downstream conveyor (“a laying-out apparatus”) by a pantograph type mechanism with pins is disposed.
Further, an apparatus for rotating the pins of the laying-out apparatus, which are used for laying out the pieces of food dough, 90 degrees to the predetermined direction (“a rotating apparatus”) is disposed in the laying-out apparatus. Also, a plate for keeping the row of the pieces of the food dough in a line is disposed at the downstream side of the laying-out apparatus.
In the conventional laying-out and rotating apparatus used for the pieces of croissant dough, the separating apparatus repeats the following movements: lowering the pins, moving the pins toward the downstream side of the conveyor, lifting up the pins, and then moving the pins toward the upstream side of the conveyer.
The pins hold the pieces of food dough by lowering the pins of the separating apparatus. While the pieces of food dough are moved from the upstream conveyor to the downstream conveyor, since the pieces of food dough move toward the downstream side of the conveyor by slipping on the surface of the conveyor, the rows of the pieces of food dough are separated in the moving direction of the conveyors.
The laying-out apparatus lowers its pins, and then expands its pantograph type mechanism. The pins of the laying-out apparatus are rotated by the rotating apparatus simultaneously with or just after expanding the pantograph type mechanism. Next, the pins are lifted, and then the pantograph type mechanism is contracted. The series of these movements are repeated.
Since the laying-out apparatus holds the pieces of food dough by lowering its pins, the pantograph type mechanism of the laying-out apparatus expands, and the rotating apparatus rotates the pins, the pieces of food dough are separated and laid out in the perpendicular direction to the moving direction of the conveyors by slipping on the surface of the conveyor, and are rotated 90 degrees in the predetermined direction.
Then, bases of the triangular shapes of the pieces of food dough are kept in a line by the plate disposed at the downstream side of the laying-out apparatus.
In the conventional apparatus for laying-out and rotating the pieces of croissant dough explained above, since the separating apparatus, the laying-out apparatus, the rotating apparatus, and the plate for keeping the rows of the pieces of food dough in a line are synchronously operated in response to the speed of the upstream and the downstream conveyors, sometimes the center of the pin of the laying-out apparatus comes to a point off from a center of a piece of food dough having a triangular shape (the center is located on the center line extending in the perpendicular direction to the moving direction of the pieces of croissant dough). Under such condition, if the pins of the laying-out apparatus hold the pieces of croissant dough, lay out, and rotate them, the pieces could be located off the position where the pieces should be located.
Thus, for example, when the pieces of croissant dough are rolled up at the downstream position of the laying-out and rotating apparatus, it causes a trouble such that the pieces of croissant dough could not be well formed.
In the conventional apparatus for laying-out and rotating pieces of croissant dough explained above, the pantograph type mechanism operates as follows:
a rod connected to an arm pushes and pulls one of node points of the pantograph type mechanism by the reciprocating movement of the arm in the moving direction of the pieces of croissant dough, consequently the pantograph type mechanism expands and contracts in the perpendicular direction to the moving direction of the downstream conveyor (in the transverse direction of the conveyors).
As explained in the above paragraph, since the pantograph type mechanism is expanded and contracted by pushing and pulling one node point, when the mechanism is expanded and contracted, the pins of the laying-out apparatus disposed at the node points largely vibrate in a horizontal plane.
Thus, it could be difficult to position the pins stably and with a high degree of accuracy. Consequently, the pieces of croissant dough laid out and rotated could be located off the position where the pieces should be located.
In this case, when the pieces of croissant dough are rolled up at the downstream position of the laying-out and rotating apparatus, it causes a trouble such that the pieces of croissant dough could not be well formed.                Patent Document 1: Japanese Utility Model Laid-open Publication No. 113-61883        